IMPORTANT NOTICES

This website has been produced for the purpose of providing Canadians and visitors (“you”) with direct access to information about the Senate of Canada (“Senate”, “we” or “us”).

Site Management

The Senate of Canada Website is managed jointly by the Communications Directorate and the Information Services Directorate of the Senate.

Our website content is updated on an ongoing basis, but may not be complete or current at all times. Access to our website and its contents is therefore provided on an as-is and as-available basis.

Our website content is best viewed on Internet Explorer 9 or higher, a current version of Mozilla Firefox, Safari, Chrome or equivalent software. If your browser is older, you may have trouble viewing many of our website’s features properly.

Parliamentary Privilege

As provided by the Constitution Act, 1867 and the Parliament of Canada Act, the general and public law of Canada includes parliamentary privilege, which consists of the privileges, immunities and powers held, enjoyed and exercised by the Senate and Senators. Parliamentary privilege enables the Senate and Senators to perform their constitutional functions free from external interference. Parliamentary privilege is one of the safeguards of the constitutional separation of powers. (The same parliamentary privilege is held, enjoyed and exercised by the House of Commons and its Members.)

Our website contains parliamentary proceedings, papers, reports and research, all of which are protected by parliamentary privilege. Their publication on this website has been authorized by the Senate. You should be aware that if you reproduce or republish privileged materials, you are not protected by parliamentary privilege.

Privacy Statement

We respect your privacy. Personal information that you directly provide to us is used for the purpose for which it is provided. Such information, as well as information that may be collected due to your browsing of our website, is kept in accordance with information management practices, and it may be used for security or other internal purposes.

Privacy and the Internet

Web servers automatically collect certain information about a visit to a website, including the visitor’s Internet Protocol (IP) address. IP addresses are unique numbers assigned by Internet service providers (ISP) to all devices used to access the Internet. Web servers automatically log the IP addresses of visitors to their sites. The IP address, on its own, does not identify an individual. However, in certain circumstances, such as with the cooperation of an ISP, it could be used to identify an individual using the site. For this reason, we consider the IP address to be personal information, particularly when combined with other data automatically collected when a visitor requests a Web page, such as the page or pages visited and date and time of the visit.

Unless otherwise noted, our website does not gather any specific personal information from you, such as your name, telephone number or email address. This information is obtained only if you provide it to us.

Communicating with Us

If you communicate with us, we will use your personal information and any information you provide in order to respond to your inquiry. We do not use the information to create individual profiles. We also do not disclose the information to a third party unless the inquiry relates to the third party or a third party needs to be consulted to provide you with a response. We do not disclose the information without your consent to anyone other than to those in the Senate who need to provide you with a response, unless disclosure is permitted or required by law.

We recommended that you not send sensitive personal information, such as your Social Insurance Number or date of birth, through non-secure electronic means, including email. Information received and generated by us is managed in accordance with our policies, guidelines and best practices on information management and information security.

Digital Markers (e.g., “Cookies”)

A digital marker is a computer file created by a visitor’s Web browser in order to remember certain pieces of information for a Web server to reference during the same visit or subsequent visit(s) to the website. Examples of digital markers are “cookies” or HTML 5 web storage.

You may adjust your browser settings to reject digital markers, including cookies. However, it may affect your ability to interact with the website.

Web Analytics

Web analytics is the collection, analysis, measurement and reporting of data about Web traffic and visits for purposes of understanding and optimizing Web usage. Information in digital markers may be used for the purpose of Web analytics to identify and track your online interactions with our website.

We use Google Analytics to help measure traffic patterns to, from, and within our website. This analytics measurement tool uses “session” and “persistent” cookies to collect standard Internet log information and to track visitor behaviour information in an anonymous form. Persistent cookies are stored on your computer and expire two years after your last visit to a website. The information generated by the cookies about your visit to our website (including your truncated IP address) is transmitted to Google. No personal identifying information is recorded or provided to Google. This anonymous information is then used to evaluate visitors’ use of our website and to compile statistical reports on website activity. The aggregate data and statistical reports are only used to help us make our website more useful to visitors, and they are only made available to Web managers and other designated staff who require this information to perform their duties.

Disabling Digital Markers

If you wish, you may opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics by disabling or refusing the digital markers, by disabling JavaScript within your browser or by using the Google Analytics Opt-Out Browser Add-On. Disabling Google Analytics or JavaScript will still permit you to access comparable information or services from our website. However, if you change the settings on your browser so that digital markers will be denied or so that you will be warned before a digital marker is saved on your computer, navigating on our website may be a much slower process. It may also have an impact on your user experience on our website. To disable digital markers, please refer to your vendor’s browser instruction guide.

Third-Party Social Media

Our social media accounts are public. They are not hosted on Senate servers. If you choose to interact with us via social media it is recommended that you read the terms of service and privacy policies of the third-party service providers and those of any applications used to access them.

Personal information you provide to us via our social media accounts may be collected to capture conversations (e.g., comments, “likes”, re-tweets) between you and us, and may be used to respond to inquiries or for statistical, evaluation and reporting purposes. Comments that violate our rules of engagement will be deleted. Comments that violate Canadian law will be deleted and disclosed to the appropriate authorities.

Ownership and Usage of Content Provided on the Senate of Canada Website

Materials on our website are produced and/or compiled by us for the purpose of providing you with direct access to the latest news, information and activities of the Senate and Senators on Parliament Hill and in the community. Materials are protected under the Copyright Act and international agreements. You may use and reproduce the materials as follows:

Non-Commercial Reproduction of Other Content

Unless otherwise specified, non-parliamentary documents are made available on our website with the intent that they be readily available for personal and public non-commercial use. You may reproduce these documents, either in whole or in part and by any means, without charge or further permission from us, provided that

due diligence is exercised in ensuring the accuracy of the material reproduced;

the Senate of Canada is identified as the author and the complete title (when available) is included;

it is indicated that the reproduction is a copy of the version available on the Senate of Canada Website at [URL where original document is available];

the reproduction is not represented as an official version of the material reproduced, nor as having been made in affiliation with or with the endorsement of the Senate of Canada or the Senator(s) concerned, if applicable; and

the material is not used in a way that would compromise its accuracy and integrity or undermine the dignity of the Senate of Canada, Senate Committees or Senators.

Commercial Reproduction

Unless otherwise specified, reproduction of materials on our website, either in whole or in part, for the purposes of commercial redistribution is prohibited except with written permission from us. To obtain permission to reproduce materials on our website for commercial purposes or to obtain additional information concerning copyright ownership and restrictions, please contact us.

Third-Party Materials

Our website may include material subject to copyright held by third parties, such as audio recordings. You should therefore be aware that you may need to seek permission from the third party to reproduce or otherwise use such material.

Social Media Materials

Images and videos available through our social media accounts are protected under the Copyright Act and international agreements, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise specified.

Trademark Notice

The Senate Emblem—the official symbol of the Senate of Canada—cannot be reproduced, whether for commercial or non-commercial purposes.

Official Languages

The Senate of Canada respects the Official Languages Act and is committed to ensuring all information on our site is available in both French and English. Information provided in a language other than English or French is only for your convenience.

We may share links that direct you to sites of organizations or other entities that are not subject to the Official Languages Act and that are available only in the language(s) in which they are written.

Linking to External Websites

Links to websites not under our control are provided solely for your convenience. We are not responsible for the accuracy, reliability or currency of the information provided by external sources. We do not offer any guarantee in this regard and are not responsible for the information found through these links, nor do we endorse the sites and their content, unless otherwise specified.

You should also be aware that information offered by external sites to which our website links is not subject to the Official Languages Act and may not be accessible to persons with disabilities. The information offered may be available only in the language(s) used by the sites in question. You should research the privacy policies of these websites before providing personal information.

Disclaimer of Liability

We are not responsible for any damages that may result from the use of the contents of our website or from any failure of performance, error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, computer virus, communication line failure, theft or destruction, or unauthorized access to, alteration of, or use of information under any cause of action.

Comments and Inquiries

If you experience problems while navigating our website, wish to report any typos or broken links, or have comments or inquiries about these Important Notices, please contact us.

The Senate of Canada’s Social Media Use

This notice explains how we use social media platforms.

Content and Frequency

Our social media accounts are used to communicate and interact directly with you. We use our social media accounts as an alternative method of sharing the content posted on the Senate of Canada Website. If you choose to interact with us via social media (by “following,” “liking”, “subscribing”, “sharing”, etc. ), you can expect to see information, news and announcements from the Senate, Senate Committees and Senators, subject to the terms of use of each social media provider.

Because the servers of social media platforms are managed by third parties, our social media accounts are subject to downtime that is out of our control. We accept no responsibility for third-party platforms.

Links to Other Websites

Our social media accounts may post or display links or ads for websites that are not under our control. These links are provided solely for your convenience. We are not responsible for the information found through these links or ads, nor do we endorse the sites or their content, unless otherwise specified.

Copyright

Images and videos available through our social media accounts are protected under the Copyright Act and international agreements, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise specified.

Privacy

Our social media accounts are public. They are not hosted on Senate servers. If you choose to interact with us via social media, it is recommended that you read the terms of service and privacy policies of the third-party service providers and those of any applications used to access them.

Official Languages

Our social media accounts are not hosted on Senate servers. In certain cases, we will have separate social media accounts in each official language, while at other times we will have a bilingual account. We respect the Official Languages Act and are committed to ensuring that our information is available in English and French and that both are of equal quality.

Many social media platforms have multiple language options and provide instructions on how to set user preferences.

We may share links that direct you to sites of organizations or other entities that are not subject to the Official Languages Act and that are available only in the language(s) in which they are written. These links are provided solely for your convenience.

Follow, Like, Share and Subscribe

Our decision to “follow”, “favourite”, “like”, or “subscribe” to another social media account does not imply an endorsement of that account, channel, page or site, and neither does sharing (retweeting, liking, reposting, sharing or linking to) content from another user.

Accessibility of Social Media Platforms

Social media platforms are third-party service providers. However, if you have problems accessing content on our social media accounts, please contact us and we will try to solve the problem or provide you with the information in a different format.

Comments and Interaction

We welcome your comments on our social media content.

Please note that you participate in our social media accounts at your own risk, taking personal responsibility for your comments, your username and any information provided. To protect your privacy and the privacy of others, please do not include personal information (e.g., full names, home phone numbers or e-mail addresses, photographs containing images of identifiable individuals, or any other personal information) in the body of your comment.

You are responsible for everything you submit, and all posted comments are in the public domain. Please keep your submissions relevant. We expect conversations to be respectful. We reserve the right to edit or remove any comments that

contain personal information;

are contrary to the principles of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms;

are not sent by the author or are put forward for advertising purposes;

encourage illegal activity;

contain announcements from labour or political organizations;

are written in a language other than English or French;

are unintelligible or irrelevant;

are repetitive or spam; and

do not, in our opinion, add to the normal flow of the discussion.

We review comments daily but do not generally reply to them. We engage in conversations only when appropriate. We generally moderate and reply Monday through Friday during regular business hours (9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern Time). We do not engage in issues of party politics, nor answer questions that break the rules of our Important Notices.

The views of participants commenting on our social media content do not represent the views of the Senate of Canada.

If you have any questions about this commenting policy or how we apply it, please contact us.

How to Contact Us

You can contact us by email, mail or telephone, and we will address your concerns as quickly as possible.